The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Marine Fisheries
Service ("Services") have released a Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS)
evaluating a proposal by Plum Creek Timber Company to implement a plan to conserve native
fish habitat on 1.7 million acres of Plum Creek land in Montana, Idaho and Washington.
Almost 90% of the area covered by the Plum Creek Native Fish Habitat Conservation Plan
(NFHCP) -- about 1.5 million acres -- occurs in Montana.

Documents may be viewed on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's web
site (http:// www. fws . gov/ r1srbo/SRBO/PlumCk.htm), or copies may be requested from the
Services. Compact disc and hard-bound copies are available upon request. Public comments
on the DEIS/NFHCP will be accepted through February 17, 2000.

A habitat conservation plan (HCP) is an agreement between the federal
government and a private landowner under which the landowner is permitted to conduct
activities that may negatively impact species listed as threatened or endangered under the
Endangered Species Act. The landowner is granted an "incidental take permit"
allowing some short-term impacts to the species in exchange for long-term protection of
those species.

If approved, the proposed Plum Creek NFHCP would be the first of its
kind in the northern Rockies. It outlines measures to conserve 17 native fish species,
including eight species that are threatened or endangered, for a permit length of 30
years. The NFHCP offers improvements in road maintenance and construction, livestock
grazing, timber harvest practices, land use and internal policies to benefit native fish.
The DEIS evaluates how each of four proposed alternatives would provide habitat protection
for streams, wetlands, riparian and upland areas, as well as the differences in protection
provided by shorter permit lengths.

"One requirement of Plum Creek's NFHCP is that native fish habitat
must be in better condition tomorrow than it is today," said U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service Regional Director Anne Badgley. "In addition, the Services must have the
opportunity to work with Plum Creek to adapt management of their lands in the future to
ensure adequate conservation of native fish."

The Services provided technical assistance to Plum Creek to develop a
plan that attempts to meetbiological goals based on the "Four C's" of habitat
quality for all native salmonids: Cold (stream

temperatures), Clean (in-stream sediment levels), Complex (in-stream
habitat diversity) and Connected (restoration of connectivity among sub-populations of
native fish). The NFHCP incorporates new approaches to conservation, such as: land
management practices may be adapted as our understanding of fish conservation needs
evolve, options exist for both the Services and Plum Creek to suspend or end participation
in the permit if implementation of the permit does not meet necessary requirements, and a
broad array of other conservation measures. Other alternatives to the NFHCP, including
varying combinations of conservation opportunities, are also evaluated in the DEIS.

"Each HCP we help develop is unique to the landowner we are
working with," said National Marine Fisheries Service Regional Administrator Will
Stelle. "We encourage each HCP applicant to tailor their management plan to the
conditions found in each watershed, so that future actions will help to maintain or
restore natural stream processes."

Interested parties are encouraged to attend any of six "Open
House" meetings to gather information and provide comments to the Services. All
meetings will be from 3:30 to 7:30 p.m., on the following dates at the following
locations:

The Services will review and consider all public input presented during
the comment period. A final EIS will then be published with a selected alternative
identified, followed by a 30-day public review period. If the Services' final decision is
to issue an incidental take permit to Plum Creek, the NFHCP would be implemented at that
time.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal Federal agency
responsible for working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife and
plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service
manages the 93-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System comprised of more than 500
national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands, and other special management
areas. It also operates 66 national fish hatcheries, 64 fish and wildlife management
assistance offices and 78 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces Federal
wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations,
restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as
wetlands, and helps State, Tribal and foreign governments with their conservation efforts.
It also oversees the Federal Aid program that distributes hundreds of millions of dollars
in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to state wildlife agencies.

NOTE: This news release, related Q&As, and a map are also available
on the Service's Pacific Regional homepage on the Internet at http://www.r1.fws.gov. The
DEIS/NFHCP and all related materials may also be viewed at:
http://www.fws.gov/r1srbo/SRBO/PlumCk.htm.